Re: foo[bar] _or_ foo['bar'] ?

Addressed to: Derek Sivers <list@hitmedia.com> "Matthias Krehl" <matthias.krehl@key-work.de> php-general@lists.php.net ** Reply to note from Derek Sivers <list@hitmedia.com> Tue, 13 Feb 2001 09:31:29 -0800 > > > >I'd really appreciate a clear statement whether to use better > > $foo = array('bar' => 'boing'); > > doWhatSoEver($foo[bar]); > >or > > $foo = array('bar' => 'boing'); > > doWhatSoEver($foo['bar']); > > > I had heard someone on the list say that it's always best to use quotes, > for the same reason as XHTML, where every value MUST have quotes. > > But honestly I've been using only NO-quotes all year and find it much > easier to read. And NEVER any problem! > > Also makes it easier when you need to use an array variable inside a quoted > string: > > print "Hello there $client[name]"; Several people have mentioned that this is a bad practice, but no one has mentioned why... There are two gotchas you have to look out for, that quotes will prevent. First, if you are using some_word as an array index and someone decides that it would be a good name for a built in function, constant, or statement all of a sudden all of your programs will break. Second, take one of your programs that uses some_word all over it, and add: define( 'some_word', 'something_else' ); into one of your include files, now life gets very interesting: $X[ 'some_word' ] = 'foo'; $X[ 'something_else' ] = 'bar'; echo $X[ some_word ]; // prints bar echo $X[ 'some_word' ]; // always works as expected. Rick Widmer Internet Marketing Specialists http://www.developersdesk.com